Om Shanti Om stars the Indian Film Industry

Cast & Crew of the film.

Directed by
Farah Khan

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Sanjay Dutt … Himself

Shahrukh Khan … Om Kapoor

Amitabh Bachchan … Himself

Salman Khan … Himself
Hrithik Roshan … Himself
Abhishek Bachchan … Himself
Rani Mukherjee … Herself
Preity Zinta … Herself
Kajol … Herself

Shilpa Shetty … Herself
Priyanka Chopra … Herself
Saif Ali Khan … Himself
Lara Dutta … Herself

Karisma Kapoor … Herself
Govinda … Himself
Dharmendra … Himself
Tabu … Herself
Bobby Deol … Himself
Rekha … Herself
Juhi Chawla … Herself
Vidya Balan … Herself
Sunil Shetty … Himself
Arjun Rampal
Sridevi … Herself

Shabana Azmi … Herself
Zayed Khan … Himself
Mithun Chakraborty … Himself
Urmila Matondkar … Herself
Karan Johar … Himself
Rishi Kapoor … Himself
Ritesh Deshmukh … Himself
Tusshar Kapoor … Himself
Amrita Arora … Herself
Jeetendra … Himself
Aaftab Shivdasani … Himself
Arbaaz Khan … Himself
Malaika Arora … Herself
Dino Morea … Himself

Subhash Ghai … Himself
Kiron Kher
Deepika Padukone
Vishal Dadlani … Himself
Shreyas Talpade
Jigar Patel … Himself

Produced by
Gauri Khan …. producer
Shahrukh Khan …. producer

Original Music by
Vishal Dadlani
Shekhar Ravjiani
Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma

Film Editing by
Shirish Kunder

Costume Design by
Sanjeev Mulchandani

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Angelo Sahin …. second unit director

Sound Department
Baylon Fonseca …. adr recordist

SRK could never become a superstar unless he became every girl's fantasy lover

The sharply observed, addictively readable and serious content book by Anupama Chopra has a provocative title, 'King of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan and The Seductive World of Indian Cinema.' Published by Warner Books, the 222 page hardbound book was launched at India Splendor (the six day event celebrating films, the heritage and culture of India) in Los Angeles and New York and is the first book on Hindi film to get an international release.

It spotlights the international phenomenon, the box office gold, Shahrukh Khan who generates Beatles/Presley hysteria across the world. It is a giddy explosion of anecdotes, cinema varities and remembrances, tartly affectionate and focuses the world's attention on the power of the cinema idol. In this case Shahrukh Khan in the exploding $1.5 billion Bollywood industry is the face of a glittering, incredible India. This is the man who has launched films that are celebrated in Greece, Indonesia, Peru, Ethiopia, Hamburg, UK, US and Switzerland.

The book traces the life and times of a middle class Muslim boy from Delhi who later became a rage in the second most populated country. But it is not only a biography but a pitch perfect narrative of the turbulent history of the Partition, the mohalla in Peshawar where Khan's father was born, the euphoria of Indian independence, Mumbai the mecca of producers, actors, musicians, writers and poets, the disillusionment of the 1960s and the entrepreneur in a Silicon valley environment. The book took four years to complete as Chopra followed Khan everywhere, emailing and SMSed him all over the world.

The book begins with an anecdote. If a thirty three year old, portly Bhavesh Sheth of small town Dalton, Georgia, a father of a toddler could dream of dancing with Shahrukh Khan onstage and have his dream come true, the reader can easily accept the fact that weekly 7,000 people in South Korea gather at a club to watch Bollywood films, subtitle them in Korean, and run Bollywood dance classes. Back in India, when Shahrukh flicks cigarette butts, people pick them up as souvenirs.

Crafting each film and he has made fifty of them, Shahrukh Khan has established himself as a legend and plays each role in his distinctive style putting his indelible stamp on every performance. Anupama Chopra ignites the charisma of the screen idol by making him an accessible figure- a dynamic original, a synthesis of ebullient cultures(he married a Hindu) deeply emotional but a down to earth image of a man filled with potent talent and fusing the world of fantasy and make believe with raw experience. The combination is irresistible.

Chopra tells us of SRK's dreams of becoming an army officer, his agonizing courting of Gouri who later became his wife, his ambitions of becoming a talk-show host like Oprah Winfrey and how death made him a star. The stories tumble one after another on the pages, his cocky confidence, his conversations with the powerful dons, his fascination with books, the intrigues and conspiracies in the hierarchy of Bollywood, the big budget spectacles, the chamchas, the scalpers, they are all there. Anupama Chopra also writes in an exhilarating articulate manner of the 20 million Indians in the world, who have discovered Hindi films to be more than entertainment.

"They were a way to bind the community," she writes, "to maintain an emotional chord with the distant motherland, and buy inexpensively a dose of Indian culture for second generation children who were growing up as hyphenated hybrids."

The narrative crackles with dialogue, quotes, gossip, revelations, heartbreak, romance drama and the marketing of Shahrukh Khan. As Anupama Chopra writes, it was Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra's son who told Shahrukh Khan that though he was a star, he could never become a superstar unless he became every girl's fantasy lover, every sister's brother, and every mother's son. "And of course Shahrukh became the superstar.

They are all great stories, enthralling, funny, moving and like Shahrukh Khan's movies the book too should be a sold out event anywhere in the world. Anupama Chopra comes from a literary/ cinema family. An gifted film critic and journalist she has written about the Indian film industry since 1993 and for publications as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety and India Today. She received an MA in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism in Northwestern University and has a BA in Literature from Bombay University.

She has authored 'Sholay- the making of a Classic', which won a National Award in India as best book on cinema. This was followed by an analysis of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge published by the British Film Institute. She presently reviews films weekly on NDTV. Her husband is the famed Vidhu Vinod Chopra of Munnabhai and Eklavya fame while brother Vikram Chandra is the well known author of Sacred Games.

Sister Tanuja Chandra (Sur, Zindaggi Rocks) is one of the few women directors in Bollywood. I met Anupama Chopra at a panel discussion/book reading in Los Angeles at the 6 day event India Splendor, hosted by MC Global Trust in association with UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, Artwallah, and ICM. I asked her how in the world of petty jealousies, arguments, extortion, murder, corruption, jail sentences, Shahukh Khan reigns. She replied simply, "He is compelling, the Bollywood dream. He is deified and at the same time grounded even while he is venerated and serenaded around the world."

When I asked if it was not too early to write a book about him Anupama Chopra merely smiled and said, "This is a good time when India is the buzzword and world attention is on everything pertaining to India. He is an international icon."

Source: IndiaPostNewsService-LosAngeles

Emily Wax of Washington Post has something to say About SRK

NEW DELHI,India.

Months before I moved here as a correspondent, Indian American friends started cooing about Shah Rukh Khan, the king of Bollywood - King Khan, as he is known by dreamy-eyed Hindi movie fans from New Jersey to New Delhi, from Bangalore to Bedford.

Khan, short and shaggy-haired, is sort of an Indian Tom Cruise. "He's got camel-shaped eyes and he's so sensitive," a friend giggled. Another put it simply. "He's hot."

I had seen my share of five-hour Bollywood song-and-dance epics - part escapist fairy tales, part campy Broadway shows.

In the 1980s, I lived in Queens Village, where my best friend and I would travel by subway from our elementary school to the Hindi movie theater in Jackson Heights.

We were mesmerized by the melodrama: elaborate extravaganzas that unabashedly mixed romance with science fiction and, say, a private detective theme - all of which made Michael Jackson's then-pioneering "Thriller" video seem under-acted.

But I wasn't totally clear on who the big stars of Bollywood really were. I think I once mixed up Khan, known as "SRK" and a young-looking 41, with Amitabh Bachchan, or "AB," who is equally handsome but way past 60. That's like Brad Pitt with Robert Redford.

So the very weekend my husband and I arrived in New Delhi, I started paying attention, reading Page 3 - the gossip and glitterati pages of the Indian newspapers.

I asked some friends to draw me a chart of the heroes and heroines of Bollywood, which produces hundreds of movies each year and sells 3.6 billion tickets, compared with Hollywood's 2.6 billion.

But there are only a handful of Indian superstars, and day-to-day it was Shah Rukh Khan whose name and face kept appearing.

King Khan now has his own unauthorized biography, "King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema." It's a lyrical and fascinating portrait. But it's also a window on an increasingly consumerist India - a shift Khan embodies.

It seemed that the down-to-earth Khan was selling everything from banking to biscuits. His face beamed from rice ads, Tag Heuer watch billboards and Pepsi commercials. On a random flip through India's many, many entertainment channels, he was on about half of them, showcasing products or crooning hit songs from his movies, with a stunning starlet dangling from his arm.

"Khan was the face of a completely new environment of post-liberalization and growing capitalism in India," said Anupama Chopra, the book's author and a longtime film journalist with India Today, a news weekly. "It showed that India could be both materialistic and retain its history and Indian soul at the same time."

The book follows Khan's rise from childhood as a middle-class, secular Muslim boy to a megastar who played the vulnerable outsider and the antihero. He was the face of a younger, more cosmopolitan and, in many ways, more Westernized Bollywood.

"We suddenly saw that a 20-something kid could make a movie and generate massive revenues at the box office," Chopra said. "It wasn't just about AB anymore with his older and more traditional strong-and-silent-type mystique. There were new personalities now, just like India itself."

Khan married a Hindu woman, laughed off rumors that he was gay - saying he was "metrosexual, and try-sexual" (he would try anything). Yet, he was still Indian enough to refuse raunchy sex scenes in his films.

Khan started in television playing roles as a commando and a circus performer before his breakthrough film in 1995: "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" ("The Brave-Hearted One Will Take the Bride").

The romance is called "DDLJ" in a country that never met an acronym it didn't love. The film was a massive hit because it was the first to show Indians living in England, while including scenes from India.

The film has broken all records and is one of the longest running in the world, celebrating its 600th week showing to still-packed houses in Mumbai this spring.

Chopra's book also does a wonderful job of charting the history of Bollywood as a symbol of the extravagant and dreamy fantasies that showed the ambitions of an economically rising India.

Eventually, I got Khan's agent's number and requested an interview - at least by cell phone.

It hasn't happened yet. The man is apparently swamped with other requests, along with movie deadlines and advertising shoots.

But I'm going to keep trying. Imagine the stories I could tell my Indian-American friends if King Khan called me.

By:Emily Wax Source:WashingtonPost

Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan is to be reborn

The cat is finally out of the bag, Farah Khan has finally revealed the synopsis of her new film Om Shanti Om, and it is not a remake.

Rumours going around the media were that Farah Khan was going to base the film on the remake of classic hit Karz, which starred Rishi Kapoor.

But Farah has said that the film is defiantly not a remake but it has similarities with Karz.

The film is set during the 70’s and the present. Shah Rukh Khan plays a character who dies during the 70s but is reborn soon after, and starts to remember his previous life when he reached his adult age. In Karz, Rishi Kapoor’s character was also reincarnated.

That is as far as Farah Khan has gone, but we here at radiosargam can reveal a little more, about the actual story of the film. We were the first to reveal the story of Veer-Zaara, upsetting Yash Raj Films, and we can now reveal the story to this Farah Khan film also.

The story is a mix of Hrithik Roshan’s Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, Rishi Kapoor’s Karz, and the Nicole Kidman starrer Birth.

The story begins in the 70s where Shah Rukh Khan’s character falls in love with a beautiful young girl (played by newcomer Deepika Padukone). However, certain incidents take place, and Shah Rukh Khan is murdered.

He is immediately reborn, and as soon as he reaches adulthood, goes in search of the girl that he left behind in the 70s. The only problem is that his love is now in her golden age and there is a huge age difference.

Will both overcome that?

Will Shah Rukh be able to avenge his death?

Will both lovers be able to live together?

That is the premise of this film.

Source: RadioSargam

Shah Rukh should be the Hockey Ambassador, not me: Suniel Shetty

Suniel is currently confused about being appointed the brand ambassador for hockey. "It was an awesome experience to be given the responsibility to revive the game. I may be a right choice. But after seeing Chak De I think Shah Rukh Khan is a much better choice for representing hockey for the country. I saw the film twice. And I'm completely bowled over by Shah Rukh's performance. He could play anything. But he chooses to play this serious troubled hockey coach. I think Shah Rukh has his stardom for a good 50 years more. Chak De proves it."

Suniel feels he's the wrong choice to endorse hockey. "I seriously want them to reconsider my appointment. I mean, there I was being appointed brand ambassador for the game while Shah Rukh is bringing hockey back into favour like nobody's business."

Source: IndiaFM

I hope one day I’ll be cast as SRk's heroine: Vidhya Malvade

VM candidly shares her dream...

...of playing the quintessential heroine to Shah Rukh Khan. In the film, her character is linked to Khan’s Kabir Khan, still she doesn’t appear to be his heroine. “I had more sequences with him in the film; I wish they were retained. I hope one day I’ll be cast as his heroine,” says Malvade.

Two of Khan’s biggest fans (she and me) are soon ebulliently discussing his stubble. “One of us told him he looked hot with the stubble; it left him blushing,” she laughs.

Source: FinancialExpress

SRK Animated

You'll soon see SRK's youthful antics and Helen's sinuous moves in an entirely different format. When the animated versions of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Howrah Bridge hit the screens it'll be another take on these popular movies. But will they recapture the magic of the originals ?

"If the film has been a big hit, there's a charm in seeing it 're-imagined' ," says director Subhash Ghai. "That's why a well-made animated remake will work." Ghai believes the results will depend on the choice of story. "It has to be one that can be re-told differently," adds the director, who also runs an animation school.

"Animation is reaching new heights," says Anil Nagrath, secretary, Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association. "The technology is there, but the formula has to be right for a film to work in this format," he says.

Corporate communications head for a multiplex chain Shunali Shroff also believes treatment will be the key. "The idea is good, but the success of the film will depend on how well it's produced." She adds that movie-goers today demand high quality. "Remaking a black 'n ' white classic like Howrah Bridge with new technology will certainly give it zing. Also, it'll be interesting to see what an animated Helen looks like," she says.

As far as quality is concerned, we still have a long way to go, says Deepak Bhanusali, who was part of the production team of My Friend Ganesha. "We're yet to meet international animation standards. Hollywood is three steps ahead of us," he says.

Technology apart, content is important, says Ghai. "It's the most important thing," he says. "Eventually, it depends on the filmmaker's imagination . Making an animated version of a film allows a filmmaker to exploit areas that wouldn't have been possible in live action," he adds.

Movie-goers agree they'd like a fresh perspective if an old favourite were to be rereleased in an animated version . "If it's a film I've already seen, I'd like it to have a new element," says actress Chaya Singh, who wants to see an animated version of Sholay. TV anchor Mini Mathur is not too fascinated by the idea of recycling old movies. "If it's like Spider-Man where there's a lot of difference between the comic strip and the movie, then I'd like to see that. Otherwise, I'd prefer watching Shah Rukh live any day."

COMING SOON... ANIMATED

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Howrah Bridge

Barsaat Ki Ek Raat

Amar Prem

WANNA SEE IT?

Krrish

Hum Tum

Devdas

Harry Potter

Lord Of The Rings

Ace Ventura

Source: TNN

Akshay Kumar may replace SRK in Shirish Kunder’s "Joker"

Shahrukh Khan is known to go all out for his friends, he has recently completed good friend Farah Khan directed film Om Shanti Om which is also being produced under his home production banner. SRK and Farah have also worked together in her first debut direction Main Hoon Na which was a hit and they both go back a long way.

Naturally now when Farah’s husband Shirish has entered films as a director, he has received the strong support of SRK.
Shirish recently approached Shahrukh for his second film Joker, a sci-fi futuristic film. Shahrukh had earlier agreed to do the film as Shirish was Farah’s husband, but now after he recently read the final script of the film, SRK was unsure.

Shirish had made his grand directorial debut in style last year with the Salman-Akshay-Preity starrer Jaanemann. Unfortunately the film didn’t do too well at the box-office; nonetheless the filmmaker is still being given a chance by many production houses with his next film. When Shirish approached SRK with the idea of doing a sci-fi futuristic film, the actor was extremely excited with the concept.

However recently when SRK saw the final draft of the film, he was not too happy with it. However as he no doubt did not want to let his friend Farah down, he requested Shirish to re-work the script. But Shirish already has a reputation for being extremely headstrong, and was upset with the request made by SRK. Shirish did not want to change the script and he supposedly had a showdown with Shahrukh over the issue.

Shirish has now approached other actors for the role; Akshay may replace SRK in the film Joker as he has agreed to work on the film. He has also earlier starred in Shirish’s debut film. During the making of Shirish’s first film too, there were talks of disagreements between the producer of the film Sajid Nadiadwala and him.

So is Shirish making foes in the film industry already? However SRK and Farah’s film Om Shanti Om will be soon releasing and to avoid any bad publicity, SRK recently claimed that he had not declined to do Shirish’s film, but as he took pretty long to revert back to Shirish, things were being misconstrued by the media. However he did not confirm that he was doing the film either.

Incidentally SRK has made a special appearance in Akshay Kumar’s film Heyy Babyy. So whether this will this affect SRK and Farah’s friendship remains to be seen.

I know him very well: Gauri Khan

It was an evening that left everyone asking for more. But then, that is the effect that Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan usually has on people. As King Khan sat on the podium, enthralling the packed room of guests with his unique wit and captivating them by reading excerpts from his book, everyone listened, in rapt attention.

The occasion was the star-studded launch of Anupama Chopra’s book on the superstar — King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema , presented by Radio Mirchi — and all of SRK’s buddies and well-wishers, and many industry bigwigs showed up to be witness to this ‘Khan’tastic evening.

Shah Rukh read out bits on his father, a handsome pathan by the name of Mir, who wanted to become an actor. Ironical that the same man’s son is ruling the hearts of millions worldwide today! And in quintessential SRK style, he regaled the crowd by telling them how, when he was a child, his father had him believe that yesteryears actress Madhubala had thought he was good-looking.

Good friend Karan Johar then took over, reading out excerpts on Shah Rukh the husband and Shah Rukh the superstar, while Rajkumar Hirani spoke about the making of the legend. Wife Gauri Khan, looking absolutely stunning, was seated next to good friend Kajal Anand.

When asked whether she would read the book, Gauri smiled that although she heard the book is very good, she wouldn’t need to read it since she knows her husband well enough!

Nita Ambani also made her gracious presence felt, and stayed on almost till the end. Anupama’s husband, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, cheered his wife on as she narrated how she had hounded SRK and finally convinced him to be her subject.

Political heavyweight Dr Farooq Abdullah shone out amongst the throngs of guests, as he came to congratulate the writer. Having a fun time with the kids was John Abraham.

Others present at the occasion were Shah Rukh's sister Shehnaz, Anil Thadani, Subhash Ghai, Tanuja Chandra, Rohan Sippy, Juhi Chawla, Anu Malik, Kelly Dorji, Riya Sen, Prahlad Kakar, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Sheirgill. Bacardi was the official liquor sponsor for the evening.

Source: TimesOfIndia

I do not think I am was a legend: SRK

Talking to reporters at the launch party of his biography ''King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema'' here last night, the actor said the manner in which his character in the film reacts after the team wins the final match to lift the World Cup trophy was his favourite scene. ''This has given me inner peace,'' he remarked.

The superstar rejected the theory that the film's success will lead to a trend of sports movies. ''It is incorrect to state that a film's success or failure determines any trend. It only shows that the audience wants to watch a good story,'' Khan said.

He revealed he was in the midst of writing his autobiography when Anupama Chopra came up with the idea of her book. ''The book does not revolve just around me but the journey of Hindi cinema since the 1990s,''he pointed out.

''I may complete it after some years,'' King Khan said when asked if his book will see the light of the day. He said he had named his autobiography 'Twenty Years of a Decade'.

The actor said he was touched and humbled that books were written on him. ''It looks odd and makes me feel old,'' he said adding that ''books are selective memories. I think I should do something important in future to justify the good things being written about me in the books.

''I do not think I am was a legend. I am just doing a basic job. People have been good to me and I have not been mean to anybody,'' the actor said.

To a question on what he felt was his USP, ''my sense of humour,'' the actor replied.

When asked how he would like to be remembered, the actor said, ''When you meet my children after many years, they will tell you that I was a good father.''

Speaking about Sanjay Dutt's interim bail, Khan said he was relieved and happy. ''We all hope that his personal trials and tribulations end soon. He has already paid heavily for his mistake,'' he said.

The author of the book Anupama Chopra thanked King Khan for his co-operation adding that book was the success of her work started four years ago.

The launch party saw the presence of prominent personalities like Shah Rukh's sister Shehnaz Lala Rukh,his wife Gauri,Neeta Ambani, Juhi Chawla, former Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdulah, Raj Kumar Hirani, Karan Johar, Anu Malik, John Abraham, Dia Mirza, Subhash Ghai, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Director Tanuja Chandra, who is the author's sister.

Source: ZeeNewsBureau

SRK's skin-cream ad irritates some people

Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood’s biggest star and corporate India’s most ubiquitous brand ambassador, is coming under pressure to abandon his controversial endorsement of a men’s skin-lightening cream.

Television commercials for Fair and Handsome, airing in August, show Mr Khan (or “SRK”) lauding a product that many see as entrenching discrimination based on skin colour by encouraging people to bleach themselves a lighter hue.

“To have a product based on a stigma is bad enough, but then to get a leading Bollywood actor to endorse it is a very silly decision,” said Suhel Seth, managing partner of Counselage, a strategic image management firm. “It’s not as if SRK needs the money. He should align himself with useful causes.”

Mr Khan, India’s Tom Cruise, is the first Bollywood superstar to lend his image to a skin-lightening product. Civil rights groups say the creams reinforce prejudice and undermine efforts to eradicate racial and ethnic discrimination.

“When the reigning star of Hindi cinema publicly endorses a cream that openly advocates fairness, lightness of skin, as desirable, nay necessary, it is a damn bad show. How could he do it?” wrote Shailaja Bajpai, a columnist in the Indian Express.

In the commercial, circulating on YouTube, Mr Khan urges a dark-complexioned and depressed-looking young man, struggling to attract female attention, to stop using skin-lightening products designed for women.

“Why are you secretly using a cream for girls?” Mr Khan asks. “Their skin is soft. Yours is rough and tough.” Several shades whiter and visibly more self-confident by the end of the 40-second commercial, the young man duly snares the girl of his dreams.

The adverts are the result of a two-year deal, reportedly worth $1.25m, (€930,000, £630,000), which the actor signed in June with Fair and Handsome’s makers, the Kolkata-based Emami Group.

The row over his endorsement, which has coincided with India’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of its liberation from colonialism, threatens to damage his status as the country’s default advertising vehicle. His office said yesterday that he was shooting and unavailable for comment.

Emami executives have admitted it took “seven to eight meetings” to persuade Mr Khan to endorse Fair and Handsome. In June, the actor said the endorsement was “yet another step in strengthening my faith in Emami and their products”.

Mr Khan, one of India’s most visible Muslims, sponsors everything from Hyundai cars to Pepsi. He first illustrated his appeal to “metrosexual” consumers in 2005 with a sensuous, semi-naked appearance in a Lux soap advert. Skin-lightening products are growing in popularity in India, enjoying about $320m in annual sales.

Source: FinancialTimesUK